Hapoel Tel Aviv wins first Euroleague home game, Mac TA survives Dubai, Jerusalem prevails

Elijah Bryant and Dan Oturu paced the Reds’ attack and matched Jared Butler’s stellar performance. With the game close as time ticked off the clock, key baskets by Chris Jones down the stretch put Dimitrios Itoudis’s team in front for good as Tel Aviv took the hard-earned victory to stay atop the Euroleague standings with a 12-4 record.

Bryant scored 28 points, Oturu added 18 points, and Jones scored 15 points, while Butler put in 27 points but just came up short on the road.

Itoudis spoke about the victory.

Oturu also spoke about the return to playing Euroleague games in Israel and about his performance.

“Finally being back and playing in front of our fans and in the home country of the team is a big step and it’s something that we should all be grateful for. Now we have to try and keep this positive momentum going. At the end of the day, I’ll do whatever I need to do to help my team; I have to bring energy, make sure my teammates’ spirits are high and if somebody’s missing shots encourage them saying the next one’s going in.”

Codi Miller-McIntyre was hot out of the gate for Belgrade, while Oturu answered inside and Ish Wainright hit from the outside for Hapoel Tel Aviv, but Butler kept the game even at 21-21 with a triple at the buzzer to end the first quarter.

Semi Ojeleye opened the second quarter with points, Bryant came back with a pair of triples, while Miller-McIntyre and Jones each hit 3-pointers. Tomer Ginat and Oturu scored inside while Ebuka Izundu dunked as Itoudis’s side stayed in front 40-37 at halftime.

Butler drained a pair from deep and added a deuce to begin the third quarter. Nwora went from downtown, Bryant and Oturu responded. Vasilije Micic dialled up long distance, Oturu dunked, and Bryant went from beyond the arc while Izundu put in a 3-point play, but Hapoel continued to lead 61-59 after 30 minutes.

Ojeleye scored to start off the fourth quarter, Johnathan Motley came back with a jumper, Jones and Bryant went from deep, Izundu and Nikola Kalinic responded to give Sasha Obradovic’s squad a 69-68 lead with 5:01 remaining in regulation.

Butler put in a 3-point play and added a layup, Bryant put in a basket, Antonio Blakeney drilled one home from downtown and added a floater, Nwora nailed a 3-pointer with Bryant all over him, Jones put in a floater and added a jumper to put away the victory.

Justin Anderson and McKinley Wright scored for Dubai while Roman Sorkin, Jaylen Hoard, and Jimmy Clark found points for Maccabi Tel Aviv, but Filip Petrusev hit a deuce to give the hosts a 52-51 advantage at halftime.

Sorkin, Hoard, and Lonnie Walker began the third quarter with points aplenty while Petrusev and Mfiondu Kabengele countered, but Lundberg bumped the yellow-and-blue lead up to 77-60 midway through the third quarter. However, Wright and Anderson helped Dubai pull even at 87-87 with under four minutes to go. Then Lundberg hit a pair of shots, McKinley hit a 4-point play, but Brissett put down the winning dunk off a fabulous pass from Lundberg to take the narrow victory.

Hoard scored 21 points to lead Maccabi, Sorkin added 17 points, Walker put in 14 points, and Lundberg checked in with 13 points in the win. Wright scored 26 points, Anderson scored 18 points, and Petrusev put in 15 points for Dubai in the defeat.

Katash spoke about the win.

“This was a great win for us. The first half saw a high scoring game and we started the third quarter very well. They had a good run at one point but we showed character to get the W. It’s very important to get the win for us in a tough game. This time it went our way, I’m proud of our players. They hit some tough shots and I’m very happy for us.”

Dubai coach Jurica Golemac lamented his team’s loss.

“Again, the game was decided by one possession. Again we fought back. We didn’t have enough power and energy to break the game. The crucial part was the third quarter when we started without energy, without aggressiveness, without intensity. They gained confidence and took advantage. We fought back and found the rhythm, but not enough to win the game.”

Maccabi’s Hoard also reflected on the victory.

“I thought I played well and the team did too. I think we could have been better at being more consistent throughout the game, but we will take the win. I’m really happy to get our third win in a row. It’s good for the momentum. It was a little nerve wracking at the end, but we stayed composed and stayed together so I’m happy about that.”

Sorkin shared his thoughts as well.

“We showed a lot of character coming back after they had the lead and I think in the last few weeks we showed a lot of character including Iffe Lundberg and other players on the team. For the next game we need to be better. They came all the way back, but we won on the road which is not easy to do.”

Harper dropped 21 points while going 16-of-17 from the line, Anthony Lamb added 14 points, and Khadeen Carrington scored 11 points in the victory. Olimpija’s Aleksej Nikolic scored 27 points, and Umoja Gibson put in 18 points in the loss.

“This was a very tough game in a difficult arena,” Jerusalem coach Yonatan Alon said. “I’m very happy with the win and perhaps we could have made it a bit easier on ourselves with some baskets we missed, but we played aggressively and at the end we took the win,”